Sun 2nd Oct 2016 - Hotcha secures £7.5m to become ‘Domino’s Pizza of Chinese takeaway market’ Hotcha secures £7.5m to become ‘Domino’s Pizza of Chinese takeaway market’: Hotcha, the Chinese takeaway franchise, has sealed a £7.5m investment to fund national expansion plans, as it vows to become the Domino’s Pizza of the Chinese takeaway market. Using a five-year loan from Beechbrook Capital, Hotcha will open ten new locations in London and the south east over the next 18 months, doubling its existing presence in the west of England. Founder James Liang, who opened the first outlet in Bristol in 2011 before expanding to Stroud, Yates, Swindon and Bath, told the Sunday Telegraph: “From day one, our aim was to develop a national chain.” The deal is a further sign that the capital’s takeaway market is getting increasingly fierce, with Amazon recently launching a one-hour restaurant delivery service to challenge the likes of food delivery apps, Deliveroo and UberEats. Hotcha has already earmarked sites in Fulham, Brent Cross, Eltham and Romford in Essex to open by the end of 2016, and predicts the investment will add £550,000 to annual sales in their first year. The company turned over £6m in the year to March 31, 2016, and generated Ebitda of £1m. “What fascinates me is that before us, there was no national player in the Chinese takeaway market, even though it is twice the size of the pizza delivery market,” said Liang, who previously ran a business importing products from China. The company cuts costs by preparing food in a central production facility, before sending it out ready to be cooked on-site. The central hub is led by a team of two professional chefs who develop recipes. “Wok skills can be taught within weeks,” Liang said. “Unlike traditional Chinese takeaways, we can train up our chefs quickly instead of relying on years of experience.” Liang admitted “we’re by no means the best Chinese you’ll taste” but says customers flock to the chain because it is always consistent, adding hungry people “don’t want to take risks” if they want a hot meal quickly. Beechbrook, which makes debt and equity investments in small and medium-size firms, said it was attracted to the business due to its franchise strategy. “We are highly impressed by what James has achieved to date,” said fund manager Jon Herbert. “With its central production facility, Hotcha is highly scaleable, a first in the UK Chinese takeaway market.” Beechbrook invested from its SME credit fund, which backs businesses with a turnover of about £10m to £100m, and has lent to trampoline parks operator Oxygen Freejumping and MCM Expo, a comic convention firm so far this year. Hotcha was advised by Attract Capital and Beechbrook by Gateley.